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    our aspirations after kindred excellence . And it is due to the world that we allow not those to be forgotten or unhonoured who have toiled for its improvement , notwithstanding its disregard or its hostility , and conferred benefits upon it which will only by a future generation be generally recognized and rightly appreciated . This duty i& peculiarly incumbent upon Unitarians , for reasons connected both with our internal condition , and our external relations . Our churches

    are the sanctuary of Religious Liberty ; and the members of our societies enjoy and exercise a freedom of thought and speech not tolerated by other denominations . We " let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind , ' * and encourage him to speak his mind ; and only put Christ ' 6 yoke upon the neck of Christ ' s disciples . But this very freedom , in which may we stand fast , and abound yet more and more , for it is our Christian heritage and rich in blessings , diminishes the immediate recompense which , in other connexions ,

    awaits him who ably and successfully serves the cause to which he is attached . We have ito temporal honours or emoluments to bestow ; and we are too jealous of our individual independence of thought and action to acfmit of that real though unavowed supremacy , that rank in a party , with which sectarianism rewards its champions , and which is by no means destitute of

    its accompanying earthly advantages . The most highly gifted amongst us are only recognized as fellow-labourers in the pursuit of Truth ; they speak to those who will be sure to " judge what they say , " often to controvert it , sometimes to censure it ; and the danger rather is that they should not be sufficiently " esteemed for their work ' s sake , " than that they should become the " lords over God's heritage , " which " verily have their reward , " in

    more thoroughly drilled sects , both established atid non-established . " One is our Master , even Christ , and all we are brethren . " But if this jealousy of our rights make us , like Republicans , somewhat niggardly towards the living , it demands of our hearts to render the more ample justice to the dead ; the more especially as the relation in which we stand towards other Religionists is , in their estimation at least , one of unceasing hostility . Too many of them do not scruple to use unlawful weapons , the poisoned shafts of

    cajurnny , and there is a malignity from which even the grave does not shelter . The foul breath of Bigotry has vented many a posthumous slander . The object of such animosity rests not the less calmly , sleeping in Jesus ; an $ tqere mi ght be copied for his monument the inscription on that of Chiliingwarth , " Nee sentit damna sepulchri ; " but it is the sacred duty of those who love Truth to protect the names of its departed advocates from insult , an . d to declare that " the memory of the just shall be blessed" by those who

    kn £ w their worth , however virulently it may be aspersed , or however daringly it m # y be anathematized . To render posthumous praise honourable to the individual on whom it is bestowed , and useful to society , it is needful that it be discriminative . Indefinite laudation is worthless at fyest , and may become pernicious . Seldom

    has there lived a man to whom such a mode of doing honour would be less appropriate $ ja « it woukj be in , the present case , The most becoming tribute ) o the memory of the kite Rev . Thomas Bki * bram must be an accurate analysis of what he was and what he did . Many persons have much ampler qualifications for this , task than he who is now attempting it ; but he has not been an . inattentive reader of Mr . Belsham ' s works , nor a careless observer

    of h \ % course for many ye ? rs ; and he has the advantage of what ha $ been already done by the able authors of the publications whose titles are affixed to this article .

    Untitled Article

    74 On the Character and Writings of the Rev . T . Behham .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1830, page 74, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2581/page/2/